Journey of Legacy: Shadow of the Hive
by mtnetwarrior
Summary: The first arc of Journey of Legacy. Martin and Steve have been separated, and quickly find themselves with great powers... With terrible consequences. With no way of knowing where to start, these two will wind up with a mixed reputation in as world that combines some of the most well-known media figures of their world.
1. Chapter 1: Two Heroes, One Path

**Journey of Legacy is ready to kick off. The first arc in this awesome story is kinda short, but is meant to be an introduction to the major action. Disclaimer: The only characters I own are Martin and Steven. All other characters belong to their respective copyrights.**

Chapter 1: Two Heroes, One Path

Steve woke up abruptly inside a long metal hallway, with multiple hatches lining the walls. He realized he must have blacked out shortly after passing through the dimensional portal, he briefly wondered how much time had passed since then, but pushed it aside as he was in unfriendly territory. Walking down the corridor, he soon heard voices from one of the adjacent rooms. Peering into the window on the hatch, he saw what looked like Doctor Doom talking to a computer monitor hovering in mid-air.

"Explain to me again this device you have created Victor," the monitor spoke. As it spoke, green audio waves flashed on the monitor's screen. Its voice sounded like it came from a old audio synthesizer, no emotion in its words. "It's quite simple Hivus," Doom said as arrogant as ever. Steve then realized Doom was talking to the floating monitor. Doom then walked over to a swirling vortex of black mist, most likely another dimensional portal. "This portal," Doom explained, "Leads to an alternate world known as the Shadow Realm. As I was receiving probes containing data from this world, my Doombots came back with these." He pointed to two objects which Steve recognized as his and Martin's deck boxes.

'One of the Doombots must have grabbed them in the confusion back at the hotel,' Steve thought. "Though the cards themselves are little more than paper and ink," Doom continued, "It didn't take me long to notice a connection between these cards and the Shadow Realm. I was able to use that energy, plus more cards such as these, to develop a new weapon system." Steve then saw the mannequin in the center of the room. Attached to it was what looked like a belt with multiple deck boxes around it, and a gauntlet with an iPod-like screen strapped to the left arm.

"This hologram-based system," Doom continued, indicating the mannequin, "Has a sophisticated device that turns energy from the Shadow Realm into solid matter. Basically, whatever card is selected on this device," here he indicated the gauntlet, "Is what appears near the wearer. Or in certain cases it can make the wearer become or control the creature selected. For example..." Doom then scrolled down the screens card list a bit before lightly tapping on it. Suddenly in a bright flash the mannequin appeared similar to Martin's Machina Gearframe. The computer, or Hivus as Doom had called it, extended two claws from beneath its screen face to test the mannequin's new appearance.

"I see," Hivus said, "It is no mere hologram, but shadow energy converted into solid matter, very ingenious. Now if you will excuse me, I must speak with Wesker regarding his work on Mr. Tiller." With that the flying screen drifted out a different door. Doom soon followed suit, shortly after shutting the portal and returning the mannequin back to normal. Steven's mind was on overdrive, and threatening to shut down on him. He just saw, in the flesh, what his mind said was impossible. However he was able to just barely focus on Hivus's last words and a chill ran up and down his spine. If this was the same Albert Wesker that he remembered hearing about, he knew whatever was happening, or going to happen, to Martin wasn't good. That is, assuming he was the "Mr. Tiller" Hivus had mentioned.

Taking one last look around the hall and through the window, Steven quietly snuck into the room and went over to the mannequin. The glove and belt slid off the dummy very easily. However while the gauntlet fit like a... well you know, the belt was a different story, until it suddenly self adjusted to fit him. 'If this device works the way Doom said it does,' Steve thought to himself, 'It could come in handy. I just hope Doom didn't arm whatever it uses as a security system.' As Steve was about to preview the active card index, he heard a deep and unfriendly voice behind him, "Who the heck are you?!" Steve twirled around and actually did a double take as he saw the green skin, wrinkled chin, and pointy ears. It was a real live Skrull, and judging from the orange rock like arm he was sporting, it was most likely Super-Skrull. The Skrull then sent his fist flying toward him on a rubber-like arm, driving that fact home.

Without thinking, Steve brought his arm into an x-block and closed his eyes on a reflex. When he opened them again, he saw Super-Skrull's fist had been blocked by the Scrap-Iron Scarecrow trap card. Bringing his arms together into that block, Steven had accidentally activated the card. Quickly flipping through the cards again, he realized they were all cards from Yusei Fudo's deck from Yu-Gi-Oh 5d's. Tapping the gauntlet again on Junk Warrior, he charged at Super-Skrull.

* * *

Hivus floated into Wesker's lab station where Martin was inside a hibernation capsule. Wesker was checking and, apparently, double-checking the monitors that were displaying Martin's vitals. "And what have we here?" Hivus asked as the floating screen approached Wesker. "Take a look at this," Wesker answered. Hivus activated his optical sensors and was impressed by the view. "It appears you have stumbled upon a natural host for the Uroboros," Hivus proclaimed. "I thought as much as well," Wesker replied, "It seems to have molded him into a being of physical perfection. I've been monitoring him during the reprogramming process. Even his brain activity has been increased exponentially, making the reprogramming process that much easier."

"And how goes the reprogramming itself?" Hivus asked. Wesker checked the monitor. "It's just finishing uploading the combat data." he said, as a cruel smile graced his features. "Next will come the loyalty program-" Suddenly an explosion rocked the whole compound, throwing Wesker off his feet and into the console, hard. "What now!?" Wesker said angrily as he picked himself up and stormed out, Hivus following after him. Neither of them had noticed that the computer feeding information into Martin's brain had shut down by Wesker's fall, preventing Martin from becoming his perfect puppet.

A few minutes later, Martin awoke to the sound of muffled voices. He opened his eyes to look around, but his vision was severely blurred, as if he was experiencing hibernation sickness. He was aware of four figures standing outside the pod, three dressed in white and one in black. Placing his hand on the glass around him, he balled his fist and slammed it hard against the glass. He was surprised to see it crack so easily. Another hit and the glass exploded like a cheap window pain. Stumbling out, he was relieved to see he was at least wearing pants at that moment.

"Hey," one of the figures in white said, "You okay?" Judging from the voice, it was a middle-aged man. Martin blinked several times, and with each blink his vision cleared just a little more until he could start making out their features. Another of the white figures, who Martin recognized as a young woman, looked around before motioning for the others to get moving. The third white figure seemed to be a man similar to Martin's own age, while the figure in black looked to be a young adult. Martin saw a nearby locker with his name on it. Inside were his sneakers, one of his shirts, and a black coat. Martin put them all on while following his apparent rescuers.

"Where are we?" Martin asked as the five of them moved down the hallways trying to find an exit. "You don't know either?," the one in black said, "Just great." "Quiet Emil, we don't want anyone else to know we've escaped," the woman quipped. After ducking through several different metal corridors, they suddenly found their progress impeded by a small squad of massive human-shaped creatures. They had the physical proportions of a powerful ape, but their fingers ended with razor sharp claws on each hand. Their skin had the resemblance of raw exposed muscles, and their gaping maws revealed rows of knife-like teeth. None of the others seemed to recognize them, but their names briefly flashed in the back of Martin's mind. Alpha Tyrants.

As the first one moved to attack, Martin's new fighting instincts suddenly kicked in. He grabbed the creature by the wrist and twisted its arm around with a wet crack, causing the Tyrant to howl in pain before he pushed it back. Another one tried a stabbing attack, but Martin hooked the creatures arm before delivering a brutal chop to the beast's chest with a deep thump as he felt something give. A third caught Martin off guard and slashed him across his chest. The pain was there, but it felt dulled somehow. Putting a few feet between himself and the beast Martin looked at the damage. The shirt was torn open but the claw marks were almost gone with just a couple small trails of blood coming from the wounds. In retaliation, he charged forward and brought both hands down on the crown of the Tyrant's head, bursting it like a watermelon at a Gallagher show. One by one Martin found himself tearing apart the so-called super weapons until all that was left were a pile of mangled bodies. Martin stared at his hands, covered in tyrant's blood, his emotions a mix of admiration and fear. On one hand he'd ripped apart these monsters with his bare hands, on the other was the dreaded question. What had been done to him?

As the group moved on they came through a hatch that lead out into a huge chamber, the bottom was shrouded in darkness and couldn't be seen. The only way across was a thin catwalk. Just as they were reaching the other side, a disturbing voice sounded, "Where do you think you're going, Mr. Tiller?" Martin new that voice. He slowly turned to see both a familiar and unwanted face. Just like the alpha tyrants, only Martin recognized this man, Albert Wesker. "Don't think you can just walk on out of here," Wesker said as he slowly and deliberately walked to the center of the catwalk. "Now recapture the specimens so we may continue with the project."

Martin didn't fully hear him because his brain was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Albert Wesker was standing right in front of him, in the flesh. Martin then remembered that the catwalk was stretched over a deep pit and a lever labeled "support clamp release", was a little too conveniently placed right next to him. 'Well here goes.' he thought. "You didn't say please." Before Wesker could react, Martin pulled the lever and dropped him into the pit. 'Wow it actually worked.' When Martin turned around to face the others he noticed they had backed away from him. Wesker's supposed familiarity with Martin apparently caused some mistrust to develop. "I don't suppose any of you know what he was talking about?"

This seemed to calm them down, if just a little bit. But just as the other four walked through the next bulkhead a massive explosion rocked the compound, closing the hatch and sealing the bulkhead. Martin looked back the way they had come to see the far wall explode out into a tsunami of flame and twisted metal before it washed over him. The intense heat was an eternity of pain in an instant, and then there was only the cool embrace of darkness.

To be continued...

**Things are going to get interesting as the story progresses, believe me. Read and review.**


	2. Chapter 2: Shadow Duels and Elementals

**Reader's of "The Noble Spartan" will see a little taste of my character in this story. Disclaimer: I only own the likeness of myself and Steve.**

Chapter 2: Shadow Duels and Elementals

It finally hit him. Steve was in another dimension facing down a super-powered alien with a weapon out of a sci-fi comic. So he did the first thing that came to mind... RUN! He went charging right at Super-Skrull and in response, Super-Skrull lobbed another fist right at him. However, at the last second the Junk Warrior facsimile ducked under the fist and slipped right past him, elbowing Super-Skrull's gut to clear the way. If it were a normal human, that would have barely registered. However, as Junk Warrior Steve's power was multiplied several times. Super-Skrull felt his ribs crack as the force of the blow slammed him into the wall. "You will pay for that, filthy Earthling," Super-Skrull grumbled as he clutched his side. Steve didn't hear Super-Skrull's rant, as he was already barreling down the halls looking for the exit, or perhaps Martin's cell. Once he figured no one else was around, he stopped for a moment to further examine the device he had just stolen.

It looked like the iPod had been attached to an Oricalcos duel disk, but with the card holder chopped off for easier movement. As for the belt, there was nothing special about it other than the fact that it was designed to hold deck boxes, similar to a bandoleer belt. Then a familiar, and unpleasant voice, broke Steve out of his thoughts. "THERE YOU ARE!," Super-Skrull screamed, literally blazing with anger. Steve remembered that he gone back to normal to further examine the duel system, leaving him a sitting duck. As Super-Skrull's fist came flying at him again, Steve slammed down on the gauntlet again. Seconds before the impact, he suddenly lost sense of gravity as he was thrown upward through floor after floor until he had reached the roof of the complex, wherever that was. Coming to a rough landing, Steve took a look at his gauntlet. By sheer luck, he had hit the Compulsory Evacuation Device, which explained the sudden liftoff.

"You won't get away that easily," Super-Skrull said he climbed through the holes Steve had made with his body. Steve quickly sought cover behind what looked like some sort of aircraft as he flipped through the cards on the gauntlet, trying to find something that would at least help him survive. "Come out, come out, little human," Super-Skrull said in an almost mocking tone. Steve was really starting to sweat, trying to find the best monster he could find. "Oh little huuu-maaann, come out and plaaa-e-aaay," Super-Skrull continued. Finally Steve found just the monster he needed. Slamming down on the gauntlet, the light caught Super-Skrull's attention. "There you are," Super-Skrull grinned as he lifted up the aircraft Steve was behind, only to have his jaw drop at the sight before him. Steve had managed to find the mother of all machines, the VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon. And he was now the perfect facsimile of him.

Before Super-Skrull could react, Steve knocked him across the deck and into a nearby turbine engine. Steve suddenly realized that wherever he was, he was likely in the sky. As soon as Super-Skrull hit the engine, it exploded, rocking the carrier near to the point of capsizing. From out of nowhere, cable wires dragged Super-Skrull back into the carrier. Seconds later, several capsules were jettisoned from the depths of the carrier. Steve then felt the entire vessel rock violently. As the carrier exploded from the inside out, Steve suddenly blacked out.

* * *

"...ink he's... out o..." "The... right... perf... Like he...jured" Martin heard two voices as he started to come to. Looking around, he saw he was inside someone's apartment. Before him were two figures. As his eyes started to adjust, he saw they were in their late teens, or maybe early twenties. The young man wore a white shirt with denim jeans. Martin also noticed he had black hair that extended like short wings straight behind his head. The girl was just just as familiar, with a white gown and red hair that had two spiral rows at either end. Martin was certain he smelled hair dye coming from the girl. "Glad to see you're okay," the young man said, "I'm Phoenix, Phoenix Wright. This is my girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne." Martin knew both of those names, but he was sure the girl he was looking at was really named Iris. Still, he was also sure Phoenix would never believe him without proof.

"So, um," Iris started, "What's your name?" "My name is Martin Tiller. And if it's not too much trouble, how did I get here?" "Crazy thing," Phoenix said, "You came shooting in here through the window over there." He pointed to a now shattered window just outside the room. "When we found you, you were a real mess. All your bones were broken, your organs were either punctured or ruptured, and you had third-degree burns over at least ninety-percent of your body. We had to call in a doctor since it was too tricky to move you." Martin looked himself over, and saw he didn't have a mark on him. Phoenix nodded and said, "It's only been twenty-four hours since then. The doc we had examine you said you were lucky you were still alive, much less healing at the rate you were. When we looked outside to see where you came from, we saw a giant helicarrier crashing into the mountains just a few miles away."

Martin could not believe his luck. Somehow he had survived what should have been a fatal explosion. Getting out of the bed he was in, he took a look at himself in the full length closet mirror... and was shocked. Everything but his jeans were completely burned off, except the coat which was hanging nearby, which helped him get a good look at himself. His gut had turned into a rock hard six-pack, all the fat in his body turned to muscle. He also looked a little taller, like the genetic defect in his spine had been corrected. His acne had completely cleared up, and all his body hair was gone, his skin flawless. Martin checked his pulse and found his heart was now beating at the level of a pro athlete. He then took another look at his right arm. Even the scar on his wrist had completely healed. Martin thought it over, and found his was able to recall everything he had seen since waking up in the hibernation chamber. Clearly someone had done some genetic experiments on him, with incredible results. But who, and why?

* * *

"Ouch..." Steven felt like his head was splitting open. He slowly got up to view the trench his body had carved into the earth from his uncontrolled landing. Once he had tossed Super-Skrull into the turbine, the whole airship had blown up in a chain reaction right beneath his feet. Next thing he knew, he was tumbling through a debris cloud heading straight for the ground. While his VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon form had taken the brunt of the impact, it had left him with a dislocated shoulder. He was no expert at medicine, but he still knew how to pop a limb back into place. With a wet crack, he succeeded in realigning his shoulder, letting out a howling scream in the process, before slowly getting up. "Now where am I?" Steve wondered aloud.

He slowly started trudging his way through the mile-wide debris field that had followed him after the explosion. The pieces varied from large chunks of burning metal to busted-open crates. As he walked around a large, mostly intact robotic arm, he saw what looked a highway about half a mile away, with emergency vehicles approaching. He could make out the name "Resurgam" on the side of one of the ambulances. That was name of the hospital from that video game Martin had told him about. _'What was that game again?'_ Steve thought, _'Trauma...'_ But before Steve could finish his thought, the robot arm he had just passed suddenly lurched out and jabbed him in the back of the neck with what felt like a large hypodermic needle. Steve screamed and grabbed the needle trying to pull it out, but only succeeded in ripped the hand off the arm, with needle still attached, before falling unconscious on the ground.

Maria Torres was the first on the scene of the impact. She a young Latin-American woman with brown hair that nearly matched her skin tone and dull green eyes. She dressed in black biker shorts with a matching tank top and white athletic shoes, offset by her green paramedic jacket. Her biker goggles hung around her neck as she surveyed the wreckage. Suddenly she caught sight of the person she had heard screaming just a second ago. Seeing the massive hypodermic lodged in the back of his neck, she quickly pulled it out to get a better look at it. "What's this writing on the side?" she wondered, "Extremus?" Just then Steve started bleeding over his entire body. "Crap!" Maria exclaimed, "We need EMT's here with emergency transfusions right away!" The paramedics she had called for arrived with hurried over with the gear. None of them could have imagined that the substance Steve was injected with, would actually make him stronger once the worst had passed.

* * *

Martin returned from surveying the impact site of the airship, wondering what had become of his would-be rescuers. Phoenix had offered Martin a brand new set of jeans, socks, sneakers, and a tank top, all black, which fit well with his coat. Apparently, Phoenix's dad, who owned the apartment, was the same size as Martin. "Back already," Phoenix said as he saw Martin walking back, "What happened?" "Something from within the airship blasted a bottomless pit around the ship itself extending a mile wide," Martin said, "Currently it's impossible to approach. One would need a precision aircraft to even get close. Right now I need to get to the nearest town and gather supplies. I gonna be trecking cross-country until I find what I need." Martin was curious as to why he suddenly had a new set of super-powers. In addition to having been turned into a being similar to a Greek sculpture, he had become faster, stronger, his senses were sharper, his reaction time improved. It was like something out of a dream, only it was very real. He knew the best place for answers was on that airship, and he needed to find a way to get to it. "There's a monorail that will take us there pretty quick," Phoenix said. Grabbing his jacket, he headed out to show Martin the way.

As Martin and Phoenix approached the monorail system, they saw trouble. They looked like Majini, African villagers turned feral by the Las Plagas parasite. Phoenix saw something and called out, "Larry! Hold on!" Sure enough, Martin saw a man about Phoenix's age, with light brown hair that stuck out all spikey, with a spike of beard on his chin. He was wearing an orange shirt with blue jeans and white sneakers. Two Majinis were holding him down, one with a spear. Martin rushed over and quickly knocked them both off Larry. The spear-wielder tried retaliating by thrusting his spear at Martin's back, but Martin countered with a quick back-kick that broke off the spear-tip. He followed it up with a sweeping kick that threw the Majini on his back, then finished him off with a heel drop kick to the Majini's chest. The infected human melted into slag. The other Majini rushed at Martin, arms flailing. Martin picked up the tipless spear from the first Majini and twirled it around like a staff. Swinging it around, he feinted the Majini while striking him in the back of the neck, sending the man sprawling. Getting up, the Majini leapt at Martin, who simply picked up the broken off tip and threw at the Majini, striking him in the heart.

Larry and Phoenix watched in amazement as the second Majini melted into a puddle. "How did you do all that?" Phoenix asked. "Would you believe sheer instinct?" Martin said with a shrug. "Dude, that was even crazier than my first date with Cindy," Larry said. _'He was dating that model THAT long?__,__'_ Martin thought to himself. "Phoenix," he said aloud, "Why don't you take Larry back to the apartment and wait there awhile. I'll go on ahead and clear out the rest of the station." As Phoenix and Larry headed out Martin couldn't help but chuckle to himself. _'Just like the video game,'_ he thought, _'When something smells, it's usually the Butz.'_ He stood stock still for a bit longer, trying to hear everything that was going on. The sound of young girl screaming caught his attention. Racing faster than he thought possible, Martin headed in the direction of the scream.

Stopping near a human form Martin looked to see if he could find the source. "Where did you come from?" asked someone near him. Martin eyes widened. He recognized the woman next to him. She was wearing a brown trench coat with matching pants, but he did know that red muffler and long brown hair. Her name was Lana Skye, no doubt still a detective at this point in time. Clearly she had seen him "pop" into view. "You just teleported out of nowhere," Lana said. "Actually I can't teleport," Martin said, "I was moving too fast for human eyes." "Lana, help," came the cry from above. Caught in a flying creatures claws, Martin saw a little girl in a school uniform with a black sweater vest over it. "Ema," Lana said, "Hang on." Martin figured it was Ema, he recognized the family resemblance. Still gripping the broken spear, now more of a staff really, he ran toward a tall pillar and jumped off it. He aimed the tip of the staff of the bat-like creature's back, forcing it to drop Ema into Lana's waiting arms. Martin leapt off the creature's back and brought the staff onto its head as he came down. The monster crashed to earth, dissolving into goo upon landing.

"Wow sis, did you see that," Ema said all excited like, "He's just like a superhero." "And here I thought superheroes didn't exist in the real world," Lana replied with a laugh. _'A superhero,'_ Martin thought, _'Well I have been given great power. And like it always says in the Spider-Man comics, with great power comes great responsibility.'_ Suddenly there was another scream. "That sounded like Mia," Lana said, "We need to..." But Martin was already racing in the direction of the scream. What he saw was shocking. Sure enough, there was Mia Fey. She was wearing a trendy business suit, with her family's magatama around her neck. She had long black hair, but the first thing about most people noticed was her substantial bust size. There were times when Martin thought Mia was flirting with indecent exposure. Then he saw something that really made his jaw drop. Two Nemesis monsters. Dressed in all leather that matched their leathery skin, with lipless mouths and stitches covering one eye, these things were really bad news. Martin saw each of them was carrying a giant mallet that looked to be made of iron.

As they readied their hammers to come down on poor Mia, Martin raced in and, using nothing but two fingers on each hand, stopped the mallets in mid-air. Martin looked to see that he had actually punched a hole in each mallet, with only minimal pain to himself. Pulling out his hands, he smiled at the apparent look of disbelief on the two Nemeses. One of them took his hammer and tried swinging it horizontally, but Martin simply raised his right forearm to block, throwing a little force into it to knock the hammer back. He never expected to cause it to crumple like tin foil. Either he was stronger than he realized, or that thing was hollow. The other Nemesis tried to swing his hammer on top of Martin, but he backstepped it and spun around it, bringing his leg down to snap off the handle. He then took his staff and spun it around, nailing one Nemesis between the legs and the other square in the gut. Both dropped down and grabbed themselves in pain. Martin then walked up to each of them and snapped their necks with his bare hands, one after the other.

As the two Nemeses dissolved into slag, Martin became aware of at least two dozen more B.O.W.s leaving the area, just in time for the monorail to come rolling in. From the look of it, there were several important people on board, which was probably why the B.O.W.s took over the station in the first place. Lana and Ema showed up and helped Mia to her feet. "Thanks," Mia said, "Who are you?" "My name's Martin." There seemed to be a look of recognition on Mia's face. "Martin...? But it can't be... We thought you were..." Martin was already walking over to get his ticket, then he boarded the monorail to the nearest town. "I wonder what his story is," Ema said, "And where did he get all those cool powers?" "I've no idea," Lana replied. Mia seemed lost in thought. When Martin fought those creatures, he seemed so cold, so emotionless. Yet something was nagging her. She remembered a young detective with the same name, and this man looked very similar.

* * *

"There's no way I'm letting you take my patient," Gabriel said angrily to the woman in front of him. Victoria "Pepper" Potts shook her head. Never had she met anyone as stubborn, brassive, and disagreeable as Gabriel Cunningham. Well, except maybe Tony on a bad day. Gabriel was the lead Diagnostician at Resurgam First Care, a hospital in Portland, Oregon. Right next to them lay the human-shaped mass of scab tissue that was Steven Blanch. When Maria had first checked on him, at first she thought he was a victim of the Rosalia virus, but the lack of black bruising anywhere on his body ruled that out quickly. When RONI, Gabriel's computerized assistant, heard that Maria had found a needle with the word "Extremus" sticking out the back of the patient's neck, she applied Gabriel's "to Hell with that" approach to life and found the answer in a previously non-existent file, Stark Industries.

Naturally, RONI's digging through the Stark Industries database caught Pepper's attention, hence her heated argument with Dr. Cunningham right now. Pepper turned to RONI. "Is he always like this?" she asked the computer. "YOU SHOULD SEE HIM WHEN HE REALLY LOSES HIS TEMPER," RONI replied. RONI remembered the little outburst Gabriel had over his son's own medical condition just a few months prior, and thanked her lucky diodes computers could not feel pain. Gabriel had been running test after test on Steve, made a little tricky due to the fact that he was essentially a cement block made of scab tissue. But all the tests he performed suggested that Steve was being rebuilt from the ground up by whatever compound was inside him right now. Not to mention the piece of hardware that he had been wearing was even now fusing to Steve's right arm.

"At least make sure he's kept under surveillance," Pepper insisted, "Once he comes out of that cocoon, he's gonna be a powerhouse." "Don't worry," Gabriel replied, "We've got our own powerhouse in Orthopedics." He was, of course, referring to Hank Freebird, a real giant of a man, albeit a gentle giant. Still, the guy could scrap when he needed to. Heck, the man used to be a soldier in the military. Pepper seemed unconvinced, but reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but you'd best hope he's enough. The last person to get infected with Extremus took out fifty armed soldiers." "Relax will ya," Gabriel said, "Now I've gotta get going. I'm taking Maria out on a second date. Turns out she really can pull off frills." "DR. CUNNINGHAM, BEFORE YOU LEAVE," RONI spoke up, "I FINALLY FOUND THAT DATA ON THE UROBOROS YOU WERE LOOKING FOR."

An empty canister with that name had been found about a stone's throw away from Steve. Curious, Gabriel first tried his government contacts through the senator he once helped. When that failed to yield results, RONI once again tried a "to Hell with that" approach, but if any information did exist, someone had it on a closed network. That is, until recently. "THE FILE WAS UPLOADED BY A MARTIN TILLER," RONI said, "WHO, COINCIDETALLY ENOUGH, IS THE PRIMARY SUBJECT OF THE FILE." Martin Tiller. That was one of the contacts on Steve's cell phone. Quite the coincidence, two people who know each other being infected by two different viruses. What did it all mean?

* * *

As Martin walked through the downtown region, the first thing he saw was the big courthouse in the middle of the town square. He also saw an electronics store quite close to him, with a sale on a special type of cellphone. That was perfect. He'd need a source of information and communication on the go. Walking inside, he saw one other costumer, a young girl wearing a black, form-fitting dress and knee high stockings with shoulder-length silver hair. The riding crop in her hand confirmed to him that this was indeed Franziska von Karma, still a student at this age but highly intelligent nonetheless. Still, she always had a hard time getting the right information. She seemed to be arguing with the store owner. "How am I supposed to afford something that pricey?," she said, and Martin noticed she was talking about the handheld game system on the counter. The games in question, all three of which were from the Professor Layton series, were clearly an attempt to hone her mind.

As Franziska raised her riding crop, Martin decided to spare the shop owner a scar and grabbed the crop before Franziska could swing it. She must have noticed, because she turned to look at Martin with surprise. "Allow me," Martin said, and with that he used the credit card in his wallet to pay for the whole lot. "Um," Franziska said, clearly surprised at Martin's generosity, "Thank you." Martin then went on to pay for a special cell phone, which had internet access, multiple apps, and about a dozen or more features Martin knew he would need. As he had discovered getting his ticket for the monorail, the credit card Martin had been given was set up with unlimited cash. This gave Martin a small clue as what someone wanted with him. He was either meant to be a spy, or an assassin. An unlimited credit card meant Martin could travel the whole world unfettered.

Martin found he able to use his existing phone plan for the new cellphone, which cut down on hassle. As he finished paying for, he became aware of a small beeping noise coming from the basement. Martin, the shop owner, and Franziska walked down to find out what it was. In the middle of the basement was a long hibernation capsule, like the one Martin had found himself in on the helicarrier. As Martin got closer, he could make out someone inside the capsule. Before he realized it, the person's eyes shot open and he broke his way out of the capsule. Martin gasped. Those black jeans. That red flowing trench coat. That massive sword. It could only have been Dante, the hero of the Devil May Cry series. Dante must have been possessed by something, because he suddenly busted his two guns, Ebony and Ivory, and started shooting. The store owner ran back upstairs to call for help, while Franziska just curled into a corner, too scared to move. Martin couldn't blame her, this was the second time in her life someone had pulled a gun on her.

Martin, however, felt surprisingly calm as he weaved his way through the bullets like he was Neo in the Matrix. Taking the staff he was carrying, he thrust it at Dante's exposed chest, causing him to be knocked back. In response, Dante grabbed his sword and swung it sideways. He had to have been possessed, Martin had seen Dante be much more creative than this. Easily blocking Rebellion with just his arm, which was still able to draw a little blood, Martin brought his opposite palm in an uppercut fashion against Dante's chin, sending him into the ceiling. That was when Martin saw the strange black device on Dante's back. Suddenly Martin started experiencing strange visions. About the devices and what they did, and how they could only be removed by stopping the host's heart, even temporarily. He even became aware of a technique he know possessed that could be used should he decide to remove the device without lethal force.

Bringing his hands up in a snake style stance, Martin waited for Dante to stand up again, after having fallen to the ground. When he saw an opening, Martin rushed Dante and started striking him with the points of his fingers. Each strike hit one of Dante's pressure points, specifically those around his heart. With a final strike, Martin hit the pressure point directly over Dante's heart, and he felt the heart stop altogether. The device came off, and in a few seconds, Dante's heart started beating again. Martin stood over the unconscious devil hunter. Soon enough, Dante opened his eyes. "Ow," he said as he got up, "Someone wanna give the license plate of the 18-wheeler that ran me over?" "You're looking at him," Martin said as he helped Dante to his feet.

Suddenly, Franziska let out a small shriek. Martin looked in her direction to see that another capsule right next to her was activating. The person that jumped out was a muscular man wearing yellow and blue spandex. "Oh great," Martin said, "Now I have to fight Wolverine?" Wolverine roared in response and charged at Martin and Dante. As they leapt in opposite directions, Martin noticed Wolverine was wearing a device similar to the one Dante had. Although, given Wolverine's healing powers, he wasn't sure if he could use the same tactics. Still he had to try. "Hey Logan," he called out, "You're mother was a dirty skunk!" Martin suddenly wished he hadn't resorted to Yo Mamma jokes, because the next second he found having to his staff to block an attack. Of course, wood was no match for adamantium, and Martin received his second wound that day. Still, he was amazed that the most he got was a torn shirt and three shallow gashes in his chest. While he still had Wolverine in front of him, Martin did the same attack he had used on Dante. He was glad to see that it had worked, if only just long enough for the device to come off.

Logan shook his head as he saw three people in front of him. The first was a child, maybe twelve years old. The second appeared to be Dante, certainly smelled like him. At first he thought the third was Wesker, but the smell was off. As his vision cleared, he saw someone different. "Who are you?" Logan asked. "Martin Tiller, the guy who just saved your butt." He pointed to the black device that had landed on the floor behind Logan. "What is that thing?" Logan asked, "And where's the rest of the strike-force Chris formed?" "You're the only one I bumped into after blacking out," Dante said. "Strike-force?" Martin asked. "Some time ago," Logan explained, "Tony Stark got word that our world was merging, not only with Dante's, but with a whole bunch of others. It was a benign merger, so no one was aware of when exactly it occurred. But Tony thought Dr. Doom might have had something to do with it, since he just recently discovered that Doom had stolen a sample of the Extremus virus."

"Sometime later," Dante continued, "I got a call at Devil May Cry from Chris Redfield. Seems he got wind that Albert Wesker had teamed up with Doom again, and they had help from a creature known only as Hivus. They were doing some crazy experiments. So Chris decided he was gonna need help, since Doom saw fit to grab a bunch of bad guys from his... Well, I should say part of the world." Now things were coming into focus. Martin must have been snatched from his own world as part of these experiments. He had seen Wesker on the helicarrier, no doubt built by Doom. And with so many worlds merged, new information was available to a lot of people, not to mention, depending on the worlds merged, some people might be experiencing culture shock. Sure enough, he saw Franziska sink to the ground in shock of Logan and Dante's words. "I need to get back on that crashed helicarrier ASAP," Martin said, "It wouldn't hurt if I could find either Wesker or Doom at some point, and," he picked up the devices from before, "I need to find out what these are and how they were able to control you guys."

Franziska perked up suddenly. "My papa has friends in forensics who owe him favors," she said, "Maybe they can find out." Martin suddenly turned thoughtful. Franziska's father was the infamous prosecutor Manfred von Karma. He was a machine in the courtroom, and in a few years would reach a forty-year winning streak. Of course, you don't get that good without a few rumors circling you, such as rumors of forged evidence, though this had only been proven once. Manfred was a man obsessed with perfection, an obsession that would soon be his downfall because of one, currently unknown fact. Manfred von Karma was a murderer. The man he murdered was the one defense lawyer who successfully put a stain on Manfred's record, albeit a minor one. Even more ironic was the fact that Manfred was currently training that man's son, Miles Edgeworth, to be a prosecutor. Still, murderer or not, Manfred could be an excellent resource, given his influence within the legal world.

Martin and Franziska headed for the courthouse. Just outside, Martin saw Mia again, holding a red rose in her hand. No doubt she was still remembering her boyfriend, Diego Armando, poisoned by Dahlia Hawthorne when he was getting to close to uncovering her secrets. Still, Diego was merely comatose, not dead, and would wake up five years from now. Suddenly, Martin got flashes of memory shooting through his mind. Himself as detective, working alongside Mia in a case. One of the witnesses at the trial was Dahlia. He then got another flash, this time of him at a crime scene. He saw a young woman, dead in the trunk of a car. For some reason he dropped to his knees and screamed in anguish. Snapped back to reality, he shook his head to clear it.

As Martin entered the courthouse, he could hear a familiar beeping sound. Another capsule. Martin looked in the direction of the beeping and saw it was just outside the door's to the main courtroom. Suddenly, the capsule burst open, and the familiar form of Albert Wesker emerged. "Oh boy," Martin said, "I think he wants round two." Wesker suddenly popped out of view, but Martin was able to block his attack before it could strike him. "Martin," Franziska said, "He's got another of the things on his back." By "things" she probably meant the control devices that were on Logan and Dante. Martin grabbed Wesker's arm and threw him over his shoulder. Waiting for Wesker to get up, he used the pressure point tactic again. Third time proved to be a charm as the device flew off Wesker and into the nearby wall.

"See here now," said a stern voice from behind Martin, "I will not have violence in this courthouse." Martin turned to see and elderly gentleman with a bald head and ample white beard. The robe he wore and gavel he carried clearly meant he was a judge. "Sorry, Your Honor," Martin said, "I was just trying to defend myself." "It's true Your Honor," Franziska said, "The other man attacked us first." The judge seemed to acknowledge Franziska's statement, probably to avoid a severe lashing. "Very well then," the judge said, "Oh, my apologies, I haven't introduced myself. I am Judge Wallace Chambers." 'So that's his name,' Martin thought, 'I've always wondered.' "What's going on here?" said another voice. "Oh papa," Franziska said. Sure enough, a man wearing what looked a blue prosecutor suit from Old England appeared. His hair was styled in a similar manner and looked to be grayish-white.

After explaining the situation, Manfred had Wesker contained and sent to a holding cell for interrogation. Just outside, Martin spoke with Manfred. "This man was clearly responsible for my current condition," he said, "Miraculous though it may be. I'd like the chance to question him personally to get some answers." "From what I understand Mr. Tiller," Manfred said, "You saved my only daughter's life. I'll agree to your request, but I'd recommend a officer accompany you, for protocol purposes of course." Martin nodded, but once again the memory flashes came. This time he was being granted a promotion into the homicide division, and Manfred was officially becoming his superior, in charge of all his cases. Martin shook his head again, wondering where these memories were coming from.

Walking into the room with the officer, he saw Wesker bound with multiple steel chains and a straitjacket. "Well well," Wesker said, "The prodigal son returns." "Save the metaphors," Martin said, "I want to know why I was given these powers?" "So you've already come to learn of them," Wesker replied, "I'm impressed. If you really want answers, there should be a flash drive in my jacket." "That jacket was already searched," Martin said, "There was nothing inside it." Wesker leaned forward and said, "I meant the one you're wearing." Martin seemed confused at first. He was under the impression that he was wearing his own coat. Checking through the pockets, sure enough he found the flash drive Wesker mentioned.

Martin walked into the Forensic Department looking over the files he had downloaded from the flash drive to his phone. Looking over to his right, he saw that Manfred had given the order to have the three strange devices examined. What Martin saw in the file astounded him. He was currently a natural host for the Uroboros virus, to the point where it had actually integrated itself to his DNA. This naturally prevented him from becoming contagious, and also explained his enhanced physique and abilities. In addition, Wesker had augmented Martin's mind through a computer program, but just prior to installing the programs that would have turned Martin into a puppet, the program stopped running. He had only gotten enough to turn his mind into a living computer. Also, somehow another person's mind was being merged with his. "Hey," came the voice from behind him. The man standing there wore a mustard yellow suit, and had grayish-white that stuck up like a lightning bolt, with a beard to match.

Once again Martin got the memory flashes, but at least he understood enough about them that they didn't bother him. Now he was driving in a car with the man, Damon Gant, over to some crime scene. Apparently at this point the two of them were in the traffic division of the LAPD. Martin was starting to get the impression that the other person whose memories were being merged with his was a prominent detective, and a skilled one at that. Moreover, the two of them had to have shared names, since everyone seemed to recognize who he was after a bit. "Hey Damon," Martin said. Manfred had commissioned the Precinct armory to fashion Martin a weapon to replace the staff destroyed by Logan.

Damon was a promising detective at this point, and unlike Manfred had a clean record so far, tossed Martin a small silver stick. "Press the button in the middle," Damon said. When Martin did so, he found the stick extended out both ends into a staff as long as himself. "The staff is made from two metals previously undiscovered," Damon explained, "The first is adamantium, a metal shown to be completely indestructible. The other is vibranium, which has the unusual property of being able to absorb vibrations of any kind." Considering those metals were exclusive to the Marvel universe, Martin wasn't surprised to suddenly find them here now that multiple worlds had been fused into one. Basically Martin now had weapon that the perfect combo of offense and defense, and could collapse on itself for convenience when traveling. "I'll get to you when we have more info on these devices you found," Damon said, "And feel free to send more if you find them, it'll help out a lot." With everything Martin needed at hand, he was ready to head out.

Just outside the courthouse, Martin heard someone call out, "STOP THIEF!" Sure enough, Martin saw what looked like a young teen in blue jeans and a black hoodie being chased by a familiar looking young man. He wore a purplish black suit decorated like he belonged in a fantasy RPG. He had blonde hair and green eyes, and hanging horizontally from his back was a wide-bladed sword. The two were running through the streets, with cops trying to help catch the bandit in the hoodie, and apparently having no luck. By the time Martin could step to stop the thief himself, he had tricked the young man into tripping and raced off. Martin shook his head and headed over to the young man. "You OK," Martin said. "Yeah," the young man said. Then he got a good look at Martin. "Hey you're that guy from the helicarrier," he said. He stood up and gave Martin a clearly distrustful look. Martin thought back to his first meeting with Wesker. "Before you ask," Martin said, "I'm not working with that guy from the helicarrier. I wasn't even sure how I got those powers." "You say 'wasn't'," the young man said. Martin showed him the flash drive, and the files it contained on his phone.

The young man seemed to relax after seeing the files. "Oh, I never introduced myself," he said, "I'm Emil." Martin had a feeling that was it, but he needed to be sure. "Name's Martin," he said extending a hand to Emil. The two shook hands as Emil explained what he was doing there. After being restored to existence as an avatar by the Summon Spirit Ratatosk, he decided to get back in touch with the people he knew, starting with his family. He had planned to see Marta, a girl he liked, afterward but his uncle had an errand for him to run. Unfortunately, some random thief ran into Emil and swiped the money he was to use. "I saw that thief run in that direction," Martin said. "That place is known as Bandit Alley," Emil said, "A popular hangout for members of street gangs. It's great for hiding out, but it's a dead-end." "Assuming we can keep a good bead on him without him doubling back and evading us," Martin said, "All we have to do is chase him to the end of the alley and sniff him out."

Heading into Bandit Alley's entrance, it reminded Martin of a scene from "Bulletproof Monk", an indoor construction site with cranes hanging everywhere. The place looked like a parkour expert's paradise. Suddenly, Martin and Emil caught site of the thief from before. "Hey," Martin called out. The thief headed off toward the end of the alley. Martin and Emil ran after him, but found themselves ambushed by a bunch of the thief's friends. They looked like a street gang from the eighties movie "The Warriors". On the back of there jean vests was a logo that said "Rogues". "Great," Martin said, "Goodbye 2012, hello 1979." Emil pulled out his sword, which suddenly sent the Rogues scurrying with fear. "What was that about?" Emil said as he looked behind him to see if there was anything there scarier then him. There wasn't. "Those Rogues are a bunch of cowards," Martin said, "Even their leader bullies them around. Speaking of, I don't see him anywhere." "Maybe he's our thief," Emil suggested. That was a good possibility.

Heading further into Bandit Alley, the two heroes saw the thief again on some steel girders. He had his hood down this time, and Martin could plainly see the smug, ugly face of Luther, the Rogues leader. No one but him would have risked a tussle with Emil, an expert swordsman and magic-user, just to get some pocket change. "So you trying to get your stuff back huh," Luther said in his usual snide voice, "Then come get it." And with that, he ran across to the other side. The short climb up to his level no challenge, but then Martin saw that there was nothing between their building and Luther's. Yet he hadn't climbed down at all. Martin looked down to see a pack of dobermans at the bottom. Martin took a deep breath as he thought of how to cross, and noticed his breath seemed to chill a wide girder between the two buildings. "Let's go," Martin said to Emil as he ran across the invisible girder.

As the two of them got to the other side, Martin heard another beeping noise. Looking around, he saw the next capsule. Apparently, Martin was supposed to be a puppet leader of the individuals in these capsules, but since he was no longer helping to take over the world, freeing them from the control devices worked just as well. Stepping out of the capsule was a young Chinese woman wearing a blue Chinese dress, pantyhose with white knee-high boots, spiked bracelets and hair buns. She had light brown hair and clear blue eyes. "Chun-Li," Martin said, "This'll be fun." Chun-Li started speaking her native language, basically saying how she was gonna kick Martin's butt. "I don't speak Japanese," Emil said. "It's not Japanese," Martin said, "It's Mandarin. She's from China." Chun-Li quickly dashed forward and started doing her famous multi-kick attack, but Martin was able to block each kick with ease. As Chun-Li stood there, stunned, Martin once again used his pressure point technique, which he had started calling the Venom Fang Nerve Strike.

Sure enough the attack released yet another control device from Chun-Li's back, and she fainted right there. Another beeping noise, different from the first. Martin saw a wrist communicator on beneath one of Chun-Li's bracelets, likely giving off an SOS. "Now that that distraction is over with," Martin said, "Let's keep chasing Luther." It wasn't long before the reached Bandit Alley's dead end. Martin could still smell Luther, so he didn't try doubling-back on them. Which meant he was hiding like the rat he was. But he must have all over the place, because Martin couldn't get a bead on him. In frustration, he slammed his fist against a nearby steel beam... And felt it freeze. As Martin looked, he saw that he had frozen not just the beam, but the ground around it. "I knew it," Emil said, "When we were on the helicarrier, I was tracking the energy signature from a device called the Glacies Crystal." "Crystal?" Martin asked. Emil nodded, "It's meant to emulate the power of the Centurion Cores. They're a little weak compared to the real thing, but whoever holds one gains immense elemental control."

So Martin now held one of the crystals Emil spoke of. That meant there were seven more out there. One of Martin's mission directives was to collect them all. For once it might be a good idea to follow those orders. But first... "Time to chill out," Martin said as he again laid his hand on the steel beam, and this time focused a bit more. With enough focus, he was able to turn the whole area into an artic tundra. There were only three heat sources, Martin, Emil, and Luther. Now able to pinpoint Luther, Martin and Emil started dashing straight at him. Luther quickly pulled out his gun and started shooting. Martin extended his battle staff and started spinning it in a fan block technique. Luther reloaded and tried again, this time running straight at Martin. Martin caught a few in chest and shoulders. The pain was intense, but he might as well have been a vampire for all the damage it did. Meanwhile Emil caught Luther in a trip, causing him to slip across the still frozen ground. Before could stop himself, Luther wound up running into another girder, catching it between his legs.

Despite the pain, Martin couldn't help but laugh. Coughing up one of the bullets, Martin groaned from residual pain. "Frickin' .45 Colt," he said, "Now I'm really mad." As Luther got up, still gripping his crotch from the pain of nut shot, Emil struck him in the back with the grip of his sword. Swinging around, Luther tried to pistol whip Emil. Before he could even reach Emil, Martin grabbed Luther's arm. Emil could practically see the fire in his eyes. "My turn," Martin said. And with that, he do-se-doed Luther right into the nearby wall. Martin picked Luther and pulled his arm behind back in an arm lock. "Say Uncle," he said, "Say it." "OK, OK, Uncle!," Luther said in desperation. Emil searched Luther's pockets and found the wallet with the cash his uncle gave him. "Well that was fun," Martin said as he dropped Luther, "Now let's get back to town."

Night was falling on the town, but Martin and Emil could still here a commotion going on. Looking in the city square, they could see unusual creatures roaming around. Seeing a few people trapped, Emil tried rushing out. Martin grabbed Emil's arm to stop. "Too many of those things," Martin said, "Plus they're walking colonies made of nanobots or something. We knock one down and they'll just rebuild themselves. Let's find the highest concentration of them and see if the central mind is in that area." That location, as it turned out, was the courthouse, which seemed to be deserted. Evading the colony soldiers, Martin and Emil headed for the main courtroom, which was heavily guarded. What they saw inside was the strangest thing either of them had seen. A robotic skeleton, with a giant claymore attached to it's back, was speaking to a holovid. "My servants are sweeping the city for the Aqua Crystal," the skeleton said, "We have finished with approximately 25% of the region." "Quite impressive, given that you only just started," came a synthesized voice, definitely masculine, "Continue the search, and report back, either when you have found the crystal, or when you have finished searching the city."

As the holovid turned off, the skeleton suddenly became aware of the two intruders. "Interesting," the skeleton said, "I had thought we had drove off anyone within the structure." "We just got in," Emil said, "So what are you?" "I am known as Mack," the skeleton, "One of several hive machines created for the sole purpose of locating the elemental crystals." "And you think one of them is in this city?" Martin said. "They were scattered when Dr. Doom's Doomcarrier was destroyed," Mack said, "We were able to track several of them to various locations." 'Several doesn't mean all,' Martin thought, 'I don't know whether or not he knows I have the Glacies Crystal, but I'd wager those things outside would've already attacked us if he did.' "We have no need for interlopers," Mack said, "Hivebots, attack." Four of the walking colonies showed up Martin and Emil. "You take the hivebots," Martin said to Emil, "I've got Mack." Emil nodded and drew his sword.

Mack unhooked his claymore as Martin extended his staff. The stared down each other, before Mack charged headlong at Martin. Putting up his staff as a defense as Mack brought his sword down, this time the staff did not break. Whatever Mack's sword was made of, it wasn't as strong as an adamantium/vibranium combo. Using every ounce of his strength, Martin pushed Mack from him and, twirling his staff as he spun around, struck Mack in the side of his solid rib cage. Mack wound up stumbling a few feet, but recovered and pick up his sword for another try. Meanwhile, Emil was fighting several of the hivebots using his own sword. Swinging at one, he managed to cut its arm off. The nanobots it was made from dispersed, and Emil could see a metallic "bone" remained behind. These things were just mass-produced versions of Mack with nanobot muscles. As another one tried to come behind Emil, he suddenly summoned a wolf creature that immediately attacked the hivebot, tearing the endoskeleton limb from limb with little effort. Emil noticed that the limbs of the robo-skeletons were attached with nothing but bolts.

Martin continued to go at it, sword to staff. Martin had his share of cuts from Mack's sword, but Mack also had a few dents and scratches from Martin's attacks. Trouble was, robots didn't fatigued. Martin tried one last charge, staff extended horizontally, but Mack caught it with one hand. Using his other, he drove his sword into Martin's gut fast as he could. Thinking quick, Martin caught the blade before it could lacerate his intestines, and focused all his ice powers. Mack suddenly grew surprised as ice crystals formed from both of Martin hands, traveling down both his staff and Mack's sword and slowly encasing Mack in solid ice. "I see," Mack said, "So you have the Glacies Crystal. Very clever of Wesker. I may not have time to break free, but now the others will be aware of your power." As Mack said these words, his head, the central control unit for the hivebots, froze over. Martin pulled himself away from Mack, feeling severe pain as the sword withdrew from his stomach, and looked around to see the other hivebots were shutting down, turning into piles of silicon and circuitry, their endo-frames completely limp and useless.

"Well," Martin said as his wounds finally started healing, "Let's look around." "For what?" Emil said. "Mack seems to think that the Aqua Crystal is in the city somewhere," Martin said, "What if it was right under his nose?" He nodded to an oval shaped hole in one of the windows. Tracing the most probable directionality, assuming the hole was made by a spherical object, Martin searched in the most probable location. "Bingo," Martin said, "Here it is." The crystal was bright blue with a strange symbol floating inside. As Martin picked it up in his left hand, suddenly the crystal glowed and even brighter blue and seemed to vanish up Martin's arm. Martin felt a surge of power from within him. Focusing, he found he was able to see the microscopic particles of moisture in the air. Reaching a hand out, he "pulled" those particles into his hand and then froze them into a solid cube. He then unfroze it and held the water in place as a sphere of liquid. "Whoa," he said, "I've become a living ocean." "That's the idea," Emil said, watching the whole thing. Martin thought to himself. This Hivus character. Martin didn't know who it was or what it wanted, but it couldn't have been anything good. Martin decided the best thing to do was find Hivus and confront him, and to do that he'd need to find the remaining six crystals.

The next morning, Martin was talking with Damon about the events of last night. "It would be a good idea if we had some direction," Martin said, "A good starting point for our search." "Maybe my uncle can help us," Emil said. Martin had already told the precinct about Emil and how he had helped Martin in fighting Mack. "That reminds me," Emil said, "I still need to do my errand from before." "What was that errand anyway?" Martin said. Emil thought for a bit and said, "You know what, I forgot." Martin and Damon fell over in shock at that statement. "Well, I'm sure the shopkeeper will know," Emil said, "My uncle called ahead to place the order." "Well then," Martin said as he pulled himself up, "Let's head for the shop and pick up your uncle's order first." "While you guys are out," Damon said, "You should know that someone recently escaped from Resurgam First Care in Portland, Oregon." _'The same hospital where Trauma Team took place,'_ Martin said, _'Why would anyone want to escape from there?'_

* * *

RONI continued to monitor Steven inside his cocoon. At least three days had passed and by now Steve's body was completely reconstructed, with a considerable rise in muscle mass and density. Suddenly, an odd signal emanated from within the cocoon. Curious, RONI started exploring around for the source of the signal. To her surprise, she came across a digital barrier inside Steve's mind. This was not normal for a human being. Just what did that Extremus do to Steven? Undeterred, RONI started hacking through the barrier. As soon as she broke through it, she could feel an unknown sensation rushing through her. Not having been programmed for something like this, she paused to try to analyze it. It took her a moment to realize what the sensation was... Pain. She had wound up tapping into Steve's last memory before blacking out, when the giant hypodermic filled with the Extremus compound was jabbed into the back of his neck.

The sensation proved to much for RONI's processor, and she let out a silent scream before crashing altogether. Steve was the only one who heard the scream, it was inside his head after all, and the sound of it caused him to wake up. Trying to open his eyes, he found it too difficult, as if they had been glued shut. He tried to move his arms next, but they felt as stiff as boards. There was a strange smell, like dried blood, surrounding him. Just what the heck happened? He had felt something probing into his mind earlier, then a strange scream, almost feminine but digitized. He had to find out what happened to him and where he was. Trying to wiggle around a bit, it felt like he was struggling against cement. Pushing even harder, suddenly he heard a cracking sound. _'Uh oh,'_ he thought, _'Was that me?'_ Pausing for a second, Steve realized he wasn't feeling any pain, so maybe that wasn't his bone breaking. Then the cracking continued, soft at first, then louder. Little by little Steve could feel fresh air on his skin. Then all of a sudden, the pitch-blackness was replaced by bright redness. Steve tried opening his eyes again, and found he was now able to, but he was still suffering from flash blindness.

For a few brief seconds there was nothing but searing bright light. Steve tried blinking a few times as the light started fading. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, Steve saw he was in a hospital room, no doubt not far from the debris field he was in last night. All around him was what looked like piles and chunks of scab tissue. Steve tried getting up off the bed, but it like his he was a newborn. He started stumbling the second he got up. He sat back down and tried his movements one by one. Things seemed normal, but Steve could tell something was different. It was like he had done the equivalent of a year's worth of exercise in one day. He was aware of the unusual change in muscle density. Trying to stand up again, this time with more success, he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. Quickly turning to ask where he was, he stumbled again. Seeing that the other person had stumbled as well, Steve looked to see it was just his reflection in a mirror. Steve slowly got up again, clearly he was still unused to his own body, and got a good look at himself. The first thing he saw was how much his body had changed.

It seemed like he had lost a ton of weight, most of his fat replaced by muscle. His mop-top of a hairdo had been replaced by a military buzzcut, covering up to the edge of his forehead. The rest of his body hair, except the eyebrows and mustache, was completely gone. That was when Steve noticed that his clothes were reduced to strips of rags. Seeing a cabinet in the corner, Steve looked through the drawers and found a paper gown. Slipping it on, he suddenly found himself wondering why he was in a hospital in the first place. He grabbed the chart from his bed and took a look through it. Half the stuff written on it was medical mumbo-jumbo that he couldn't even decipher, but one word made him stop and stare. As the word echoed through his mind, he wound up dropping the clipboard. _'Extremus,'_ Steve thought. That explained his sudden change in physique. Or rather, not so sudden. This meant that at least three days had passed since he blacked out.

Steve realized that if S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't looking for him, Stark Industries sure would be. A hospital bill would be the least of his worries. Peering out the window to see if government vehicles were outside, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was all clear. Still, he couldn't stick around. That only meant the building wasn't surrounded. Steve thought for a bit. That was the entrance he was seeing, which meant for once it was the safest place to exit. But he couldn't walk out the front door in a giant paper bag with no back, he needed something else. Like maybe a doctor's uniform. He needed to blend in until he could sneak into a hospital laundry or something. But first he needed to look the part of a real patient. As far as he could tell, no one was aware he was free of his scab cocoon. Grabbing a nearby IV rack, he removed the needle and wrapped the rest of the dressing around his arm. Looking out the window in the room's door and seeing no one, he stepped out nonchalantly.

Glancing around as discreetly as possible, Steve wandered the halls. He could see that this was, indeed, Resurgam First Care. Seeing an employee locker room, Steve looked around to see if anyone was looking, then ducked inside. He didn't notice that one of the doctors had ducked behind a hall corner as he saw Steve looking around. Inside the locker room, Steve saw one of the lockers was wide open. _'Hey, I lucked out,'_ he thought. Unfortunately, only the tighty-wighties were his size. "Well well well," came a sudden, gruff voice from behind him, "Trying to skip out on the bill are we?" Steve spun around to see a giant man in front of him. He was around the same physique as Steve, with darker skin. He wore a regular doctor's uniform, and his dark green hair stuck up in a semi-triangular fashion. His eyes were very squinty, but Steve was willing to bet the man could see just fine. _'This must be Hank Freebird,'_ Steve thought, _'Martin told me about him.'_ Steve then realized that Hank's uniform might fit him just fine.

Smirking, Steve's only concern was Hank's military background. "Oh," Steve said, "Just another doctor. From the sound of your voice, I thought it was that birdbrain Captain Eagle." Steve was rewarded by a grimace from Hank. Steve knew full well that Hank Freebird WAS Captain Eagle. "Then again," Steve said, "Why would Captain Eagle be at a hospital? It's not like he can visit all the people he puts there." He saw Hank's fist start to clench. "Come to think about," Steve continued, "Would Captain Eagle even come to a low-class establishment like this, one way or the other?" "That's it!" Hank said as he charged Steve. He grabbed Steve in a forward stomach grapple, then kept going into the wall. Steve retaliated with a right elbow into Hank's back, then slamming it into his head as he howled in pain. As the attack rendered Hank unconscious, Steve remarked how strong he had become. Sure, Hank was a powerhouse himself, but it seemed a little easy. Carefully stripping Hank down to his boxers, Steve tried on the doctor's uniform and found it fit rather well. The next step was getting a ride outta there.

As Steve made his way to the front door, he noticed no one tried to stop him. Then he realized that there was a chance no one got a good look at his face before it was covered in scabs. As Steve exited the building, still amazed no one stopped him for even mistaking him for a real doctor, Maria Torres walked inside at the same time. Her eyes were half-closed so she couldn't see Steve's face, and she was the only one who could recognize him. She did see something about him that caught her attention, but by the time she turned around to take a second look, he was already too far away. Steve ditched the coat in the bushes, then looked around to see if he could swipe any cars for a getaway. He saw one car pulling in, and out of the driver's side came a young, slender girl. She had somewhat pale skin and pure white hair. She was dressed in a black frill dress with high heels, and was carrying what looked like a picnic basket. Steve waited until she entered the hospital, then hopped in her car and hot-wired it. As he did so, he noticed that the gauntlet of the Duel System had fused to his arm. Well, he'd have more time to examine it when he got somewhere safe.

Claire Blunt, the woman Steve had seen enter Resurgam, was shocked to find Hank passed out in the locker room in nothing but his boxers. From the looks of those bruises, he had been in a fight. Claire shook Hank awake. "Man," Hank said as he came too, "What freight train ran me over?" "I was gonna ask the same question," Claire said. Meanwhile, Gabe walked into the room Steve had been in, but was surprised to see only a pile of scar tissue and RONI crashed in the corner of the room. Restarting RONI's systems, Gabe wondered what had happened to Steve. Later, Gabe and Hank were discussing what had just happened. As they were looking through the security feed for answers, suddenly Maria spoke out from behind them, "Hey, I know that guy." Maria explained that the man leaving in the video just now was in fact Steven Blanch, looking beefier and with a different haircut. "Ms. Potts did say the Extremus would alter his physical body," Gabe said, "What happened Hank, guy take you by surprise?" "You could say that," Hank said, still a little embarrassed about Claire having seen him in his boxer shorts. Just then, Claire walked up to them and said, "Hey guys, someone stole my car." Maria was the first to grab a phone and call police.

To be continued...

**Steve will be getting his own adventures alongside Martin, as the two of them continue to seek answers in this strange new world. Read and review.**


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